JHL, SuPer, Talentia, Erto: Exceeding the general pay increase level must be possible when promotion of gender equality requires it

Trade unions JHL, SuPer, Talentia, and Erto demand that higher than general-level pay increases must be possible when the grounds for that clearly exist. By far the most important of these grounds is gender equality.

The National Conciliator stepped in to seek a solution in the collective agreement negotiations of the private social services sector at the end of January. The collective agreement is applied for example in private assisted living facilities for the elderly and for people with disabilities, nursing homes, mother-and-child homes, shelters, private child welfare institutions, personal assistance, and home help services. About 90% of employees covered by this collective agreement are women.

The unions demand narrowing the pay gap between the private social services sector and the public sector and work of equal value in male-dominated sectors, but that is not possible without pay increases that are higher than the general level.

Regarding the National Conciliator’s powers to exceed the general pay increase level, it has been written for example that the National Conciliator must take into consideration the obligations laid down in legislation concerning same pay for the same work or for work of equal value and promoting gender equality (Government Proposal 146/2024).  The situation has to be considered also from the perspective of the Constitution of Finland, legislation on gender equality and Finland’s international obligations.

EK’s coordination makes addressing pay development of individual sectors difficult

At present, the way the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK) coordinates pay increases does not permit sector-specific consideration. If the highest and lowest pays are increased by the same percentages, the gap between them grows even bigger.  
 
Improving pays of specific sectors is hard, and the situation is difficult. Applying the general pay increase levels threatens to further aggravate the salary lag of the sector at the same time as it suffers from the Finnish Government’s cost-cutting measures. Furthermore, this ignores the earlier agreement entries concerning narrowing the pay gap to the public sector.

In addition to the growth of the pay gap, this sector also suffers from adverse effects of the current Government’s legislative actions. For example, the change that permits a fixed-term employment contract for a maximum of one year without specifying grounds for it affects especially female-dominated sectors. Increasing fixed-term employment contracts without grounds is going to further increase discrimination for pregnancy and family leaves and make working life more insecure. 

The private social services sector employs about 72,000 people. The collective agreement is negotiated by the following trade unions: the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL, Trade Union Jyty, Trade Union Pro, the Finnish Union of Practical Nurses SuPer, Tehy, Talentia Union of Professional Social Workers, and the Union of Private Sector Professionals Erto. The negotiations on the new collective agreement began on 3 November 2025. The previous collective agreement term ended on 31 December 2025.

More information:
President of the Trade Union for the Public and Welfare Sectors JHL Håkan Ekström, tel. 040 828 2865